Archivist/Strategies
Strategy As the Ancient Archivist your primary goals are to support your team by controlling the enemy and dealing out magic damage. All of the Ancient Archivists abilities have an extra effect or improvement (negating Strange Hatred which can be improved with a mastery to heal when used) upon a critical strike. "Strange Hatred" is best used before using another ability in order to maximize effectiveness. You should always use "Leave in Silence" on casters, a Drulg charging at your team (to allow your team time to react without being hit by his silence), or an enemy low on health. You should cast "Blasphemous Whispers" on an enemy caster or target who is out of the battle where they will not take damage and not be able to assist their team, and always cast "Unnatural Secrets" on the enemy melee dps or tank to delay them closing in. Mastering what abilities to cast after activating "Strange Hatred" is key, and don't forget "Strange Hatred" + "Blasphemous Whispers" can add a huge amount of area damage on that tightly packed group. In other words, the Archivist must adapt to situations, and use different tactics in each situation. In most cases you'll find yourself waiting for your abilities to come off cooldown, in which case its wise to take advantage of "Strange Hatred" + "Praxis of Truth" as your cooldowns will be reduced. Instead of activating all abilities at once (which can be ideal when facing a fast moving group that jumps in your face), try to use your longer cooldown spells first followed with a "Praxis of Truth" + "Strange Hatred" in between each other spell. You may not get the extra bonuses on most of your spells but you may benefit in the long run while consistently dealing out crowd control and damage. *Note, this tactic wouldn't be as damage bursty or as strong crowd control so assessments must be made on the enemy skill level and overall threat. Your biggest counter is other Heroes with silences, a Volrik with his pulls, and that sneaky Ikkrik. 1v1 Ikkrik is a tough one to deal with because he can burst you down quick, however if your abilities are off cooldown you can gain the upper hand by keeping him at range. Use "Strange Hatred" + "Unnatural Secrets" to lock him down at range, because the rat cannot deal out much from afar, (assuming Warpforged Blade is equipped on him). Move out of range while he is locked down but don't loose sight of him. He may flee, stealth, or charge at you. The stealth is the worst because he could close the gap and you wouldn't know it. If he fleas, then all is good. If he charges use "Blasphemous Whispers", at this point you may flee to your team or..... once the stagger breaks follow with "Praxis of Truth" and then a "Strange Hatred" + "Leave in Silence". If he goes stealth at all during the process he has won the upper hand, his "Warpforged Blade" plus damage from afar will be more than enough to kill you. Ultimately using this tactic against him gives you a chance for an ally to assist. Who knows you may even defeat the little runt! I have a few times, but it all depends on which cooldowns you and the Ikkrik has and how good they are with their Ikkrik. A good Ikkrik always gets the kill and escapes.